


Brilliance

by shadowlancer_95



Series: Infinity War AUs [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Because fuck canon, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Fix-It, Gen, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Avengers, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Thor (Marvel), Read at Your Own Risk, Spoilers, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-04-28 05:58:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14442864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowlancer_95/pseuds/shadowlancer_95
Summary: Tony Stark has, beyond all odds, earned the respect of Thanos the Mad Titan.It isn't necessarily a good thing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, so guess who watched Infinity War? First off, SPOILER ALERT! This fic contains spoilers for the movie so unless you don't mind, don't read it!!!  
> That being said, apart from a few scenes, I really hated the majority of the movie. As expected most of the scenes I liked has Tony Stark in it because I'm a Team Tony girl. Nevertheless, this fic is set immediately after the movie, which means dusted people are still dust. This is also a fix it for some characters, if you've read the tags you would probably know who.
> 
> Anyway, this idea came to me primarily because I was beyond shocked that Thanos actually called Tony by name, and that he actually sounded like he respected Tony. The scene where Thanos stabbed Tony in the gut (I swear I was so scared) and seemingly gently placed him on a nearby rock really got to me. Hence, the fic.
> 
> Author's note is extremely long, so please do enjoy the fic!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, or what happened in Infinity War would have happened differently.

Tony didn’t know how long they sat there, blankly staring at the pile of ashes that represented their friends. He thinks he should be screaming, should be raging at the world for being so damn unfair but as it is, Tony couldn’t muster up anything more than an ‘I should’ve done better’.

 

Tony wanted to scream at Strange – Strange who had claimed heartlessly that he would let them die if it meant saving the stone, and yet turned around and offered it for Tony’s life in the end. He wanted to scream at Peter – who should have gone back to earth when he had the chance, who Tony had dragged into this fight and who was now _dead_ because of him. Most of all, he wanted to scream at Peter Quill because – because  _he knew_  okay? He  _knew_  how it felt like to know that the one you loved was dead, and that their murderer was standing _right in front of you_. He knew that, he knew _exactly_ how that felt. But that didn’t stop him from feeling resentment build up because if Quill had stayed away for _thirty more seconds,_ had waited until they had gotten the damn Gauntlet off (and they were so _so_ close) they wouldn’t be in this position now. Peter – the kid – would still be alive, Strange would not have needed to sacrifice the stone and Thanos would be  _dead_.

 

The rest of him was screaming at himself because he should have been faster, should have been stronger. It didn’t matter that he had been fighting Thanos alone, it should have been enough, his suit should have been more than enough. But even throwing everything he had at the alien, he couldn’t even stand up to Thanos when it mattered. Tony didn’t even _want_ to consider the fact that, since Thanos had successfully crumbled half the universe’s population to dust, it meant that he had all the stones in hand.

 

Which meant that Vision was dead. And that the rest of the heroes on Earth had lost. Tony didn’t want to think about the complications of that because then he’d have to realize that their origin as a team of superheroes were a lie.

 

Facing Thanos, seeing his power first hand, Tony was left to wonder how much of the battle in New York was really meant for Loki to take over. He wondered if Loki knew that he’d lose and then he wondered if Loki lost on purpose. They had been celebrating their victory that day, had been too content with stopping the invasion and their supposed leader that they hadn’t even stopped to consider that Loki wasn’t working alone. Nobody believed him when he had shared his fears about what he saw beyond that portal and now they were paying the price.

 

Closing his eyes, Tony sighed deeply, feeling the wound in his side throb dully. It probably wasn’t a good thing that the injury was getting numb, and he decided that enough was enough. Thanos may have won this round, he may have taken out half the universe with him, but Tony wasn’t about to let him go just like that. Because he was an Avenger damn it, and what he said to Loki back then still held true: if they couldn’t save the world, they would damn well avenge it.

 

Drawing a fortifying breath, he opened his eyes and said, “We need to get out of here.”

 

The blue alien flicked her onyx eyes to him, assessing him quietly, “My pod is damaged.” She said flatly, her voice tinged with a robotic undertone.

 

“The others – Quill, they came in a ship didn’t they?” Tony asked, craning his neck around, trying to get a glimpse of the craft.

 

Nebula grunted, pushing herself to her feet as she too searched for the Milano. Tony gripped the jagged edges of – what was he holding? A moon? – _something_ and levered himself up, gritting his teeth at the wave of pain that crashed against him. Breathing heavily, he opened his eyes to meet Nebula’s dark ones.

 

He waved off her unspoken question, choosing instead to hobble along the destruction left behind, his hand stretched out for balance. Tony started when he felt someone grab his arm and pull it around a bony shoulder, hissing immediately when the movement pulled at his wound.

 

He turned questioning eyes on Nebula, who shrugged and replied evenly, “We can make better time like this.”

 

They slowly made their way to where they could see the outline of the Milano, their path winded and laborious because of the multitude of debris blocking their way. Tony grit his teeth against the pain every time he had to climb over something, wishing fervently that it would stop throbbing, but also grateful for it because it kept him awake.

 

A sudden displacement of air behind them had the both of them turning in alarm, Nebula already unsheathing her sword and Tony calling upon whatever nanites he had left. But they were too slow to prevent a pair of hands coming down on each of their backs, tearing them apart from each other.

 

Nebula screamed as she was flung aside, her body smashing into rock and stone.

 

Tony found himself thrown to the side, his back colliding painfully with a rock. His vision whited out for several seconds as pain seared his entire body. Gasping, he clawed his way back to consciousness, desperately trying to push through the pain.

 

“Ne – Nebula –” he coughed, his body curling instinctively, trying to protect the gaping hole in his side.

 

A pair of boots entered his blurred vision.

 

“Admirable, this concern of yours,” a baritone voice intoned from above him, “but useless.”

 

Tony gasped as cold metal closed around his throat, dragging him to his feet. Icy fear pierced through him as the mad titan slowly came to focus.

 

“Thanos.” He hissed, choking as the grip on his neck tightened, a hand coming up to grasp at the han on his nec

 

An enraged snarl came from behind the titan as Nebula leapt at him, her sword crackling with electricity. But Thanos didn’t even turn around, the purple gem on his gauntlet pulsed once and she was flung backwards by a wave of power once again.

 

“I admire your strength.” Thanos murmured, eyes glinting coldly, “Not many can claim to have deterred me so successfully.”

 

Tony could only widen his eyes as Thanos smiled, the azure light of the tesseract shining brightly as the titan stepped into a portal, dragging him along. Nebula’s scream of denial rang in his ears until the portal snapped shut.

 

The sudden silence jarred him almost as much as when Thanos dropped him on a cold, hard floor. Wheezing, Tony braced himself on his forearms, sweat dripping from his forehead. Placing a palm on the cold stone beneath him, he lifted his head and glared, “Killing half the universe wasn’t enough?” He sniped, “You wanna take revenge too?”

 

Thanos chuckled, looking down at Tony, who despised his vulnerable position. The mad titan merely shook his head in amusement when the genius stubbornly clambered to his feet. Even with pain and exhaustion settling into his bones, Tony mustered up enough energy to look the titan straight in the eye. If he was going to die, he would damn well do so knowing he didn’t bow to the madman.

 

The titan just grinned, as though entertained by Tony’s antics. “I do not seek revenge, not against you. It is understandable that you would seek to defend yourself, misguided though the attempt may be.”

 

“Misguided?” Tony snarled, straightening his posture unconsciously, the adrenaline washing away the pain, “How in the world is trying to save half the fucking universe _misguided_?” 

 

Thanos just smiled, as though a father being patient with his son, “What I did was mercy, you will come to understand it one day.”

 

“Why?” Tony sneered, hazelnut eyes flashing with anger, “Not going to kill me?”

 

“No.” The titan said shortly, stunning Tony into silence. 

 

The genius recovered himself quickly, “I guarantee you, if you don’t kill me, if you let me go, I _will_ find a way to remove that head of yours from where it sits on your ugly neck.” He hissed. 

 

Thanos laughed, “I do so admire your fighting spirit. It reminds me of my daughter Gamora. Alas,” the titan looked away, a shadow cast over his features, “To be strong enough to do what is necessary for the universe, one has to be strong enough for the sacrifices the universe demands.”

 

“What the fuck?” Tony muttered. 

 

“I have done the universe a favour, and in return, have lost much today. My children are all dead, and I have no one left by my side.” Thanos rumbled, pressing a palm to his face. 

 

Tony was a genius, and it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together to get what Thanos was hinting. “What the fuck?” He spat, stumbling backwards, “What the actual fuck? No, no way in hell!”

 

He scrambled back, the nanites forming his gauntlet with a thought. He launched a blast at Thanos but he blue gem just glowed, the blast eaten up by a portal. Thanos clenched his fist, the reality stone flashing brightly. Tony cursed as vines wrapped around his body, tightening their hold across his legs, hands and torso. The vines slowly squeezed, and Tony howled when the stab wound flared up in agony. Fire licked his side and spread across his entire body, the agony running through his veins until it suddenly vanished. 

 

Exhausted, he panted, hanging limply in the hold of the vines like a rag doll. He lifted his head wearily, eyeing Thanos. The titan flexed his hand, smiling, “The wonders of reality isn’t it? How easy it is to make things real and to unmake them.”

 

“Go..to..hell.” Tony rasped. 

 

Thanos just smiled and stepped closer, the vines lifting Tony up to the titan’s eye level. The purple alien ran a finger over his head gently, causing a shudder to escape the genius. “I told you before that I respect you. I was not lying.” Thanos smiled, and Tony thought it was terrifying.

 

“Not many can claim to have been able to draw blood from me. Thor is one, but he is a god, and it was expected. You however,” the titan trailed off, placing a finger under Tony’s chin, tilting his head up, “You are  _human_ , and yet, you have created something that could withstand the power of the stones, that could hurt me while I possessed _four_ infinity stones. Not even your wizard could hurt me and yet  _you_  could.” 

 

“Your friends,” Tony jerked, his eyes widening at the mention of the others on earth, “ah yes, your friends, they could barely touch me. There were so many of them coming at me all at once and yet, they fell easily, even without the help of the stones. What the group of them did came nowhere close to what you accomplished. What then,” Thanos grinned, drawing closer, “separates you from the rest?”

 

Tony smirked tiredly, “I’m a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

 

Thanos threw his head back and roared. Then he turned back to Tony, his eyes glittering with malice and amusement, “Ah yes, you would do perfectly. A power such as your mind, it is a gift from Fate that I have received today, and I intend to _take_ it.”

 

Hearing those words sent a jolt of panic through him. Tony renewed his struggles, despite knowing it was futile. The titan just laughed and commanded the vines to crush him even harder, a red pulse his only warning before pain overtook his senses once again. 

 

He howled in agony, thrashing within his bonds as Thanos kept him still. Finally, the titan took pity and took the pain away, leaving him trembling and weak. 

 

“I told you,” Thanos purred, “I know you Stark, I _recognize_ you. All that you have done for your world, and they were never appreciative. I, on the other hand, acknowledge your power, your intelligence. I have seen first-hand how resourceful you are. You will be made to see the truth, and you will be _mine_.”

 

He raised the gauntlet, pressing a knuckle to Tony’s temple gently, the gem on the back of his hand glowing brightly. 

 

Tony struggled, “No - _nonono_ ” he chanted, trying to get away from the stone. 

 

The light blinded him, and he felt claws digging into his scalp, sharp blades digging further, piercing skin and bone, the claws diving straight into his brain. It was going deeper, deeper –

 

Tony screamed. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this thinking it was going to be a one-shot, or at most a three-shot, but that isn't happening. Anyway, I am supposed to be studying for finals now, so I'm not sure when my next update will be. Also because I have a lot of other ideas for IW fics that I want to write out as well.
> 
> Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoy this! Please do leave a review on your way out! 
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own Marvel, wish I did so I can keep Loki safe.

They’d lost.

 

That was the only thing running through his brain. He couldn’t - wouldn’t think of anything else.

 

Steve was still crouched on the ground, fingers barely touching the pile of ash that -

 

He closed his mind off from that path.

 

Natasha had asked him what was going to happen now and Steve didn’t have an answer for her because  _they had lost_. Thanos had come and he had crushed all of them beneath him without even using a single stone. He had defeated all of them - every single one of them - and come out on top, and he had barely expended any energy.

 

Thor had been the only one to deal a devastating blow to Thanos and Steve wanted to cry because if Thor hadn't arrived when he did, none of them would have even survived the massacre by the monsters that were released by the Black Order, let alone had the opportunity to face Thanos himself. 

 

Each time the avengers had faced something so overwhelming only they could handle, Steve had carried the naive belief that because they were heroes, they would win. He had believed - demanded even, from his team - that they end the battle with no casualties. Now he saw how utterly stupid he was. Because this wasn’t the case now. They had thrown all of their weight in stopping this - not even invasion - this massacre. They had assembled all the fighters they had, the world's only line of defense against extraterrestrial attacks, and they had lost - people were dead.  _Half_  of Earth's population was gone. Hell, half the goddamn _universe_ was dead. And all because they'd failed when it mattered most. 

 

Steve closed his eyes, pressing his hands to his eyes.

 

And to make things worse, Tony was still missing.

 

Bruce had told them of the attack on the Sanctum, how Tony and Doctor Strange - and Spider-Man - had fought off two of Thanos’ people and how the three of them weren’t ever seen again. Steve rubbed his eyes tiredly. He had been _so close_ to speaking with Tony again, and now? Now he didn’t even know if Tony was long dead, killed by the aliens he had chased after, or if he had crumbled to dust just like Bucky did. He wondered if Tony was maybe alive somewhere out there, then he crushed that budding hope, unwilling to consider his friend being stuck out in space somewhere with no way to get home.

 

“Cap?” Natasha called softly from behind him, dried leaves crunching under her boot, “We’re calling a meeting.”

 

Steve exhaled shakily then stood up, shoving his unruly emotions at the back of his mind. From Natasha’s knowing look, he hadn’t quite succeeded.

 

* * *

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyance flickering within him.

 

They - the remaining survivors - had regrouped in a room that Wakanda had been kind enough to lend them. They’d come together to try to brainstorm what their next course of action should be, but all anyone had done in the past three hours was argue. Most of the room wanted to go after Thanos, the rest wanted to stay here and start rebuilding and to be honest, Steve was wishing he could fall into the latter. Thor of course, was the loudest voice for the former, pitting his voice against Natasha of all people.

 

“Listen,” Steve cut in tiredly, interrupting yet another heated debate, waiting until the god turned to him, “Thor, we _can’t_ go after Thanos. We don’t have the materials necessary and he’s too powerful.” The whole room descended into heavy silence. Steve swallowed, it was a hard truth, but one they needed to acknowledge nonetheless.

 

“ _All_ of us converged on Thanos at the same time and he defeated us without even using an infinity stone.” Steve sighed, “As much as I want to go after him, we can’t, not now, not when our numbers are so reduced and - given how useless we were against Thanos...” he trailed off, uncertainty creeping into him as Thor’s face darkened.

 

Natasha nodded, lending her support, “Logistically speaking, we can’t hunt him down. We don’t know where he is, we don’t know what he’s currently capable of and considering he’s fulfilled his goal, we don’t know what his next step is. What we _can_ do is rebuild here. Thanos wanted half the universe dead, he’s got it. But we have half left, we can support them and build up from here.”

 

“And what’s stopping him from killing the other half?” Bruce interrupted, “He’s got the most powerful weapon in the world and he knows how to use it. What’s stopping him from deciding that, maybe he doesn’t want to stop at mercy killing for the greater good?”

 

“We can’t know that.” Steve agreed, “But we should focus on what is in front of us nonetheless.”

 

“You think I seek Thanos for vengeance.” Thor abruptly spoke up, his voice a low rumble that was reminiscent of the element he represented. He met each of their eyes steadily. “You are right. Thanos _slaughtered_ my people,” He growled, his fist sparking with static, “He gutted my friend like a fish and _laughed_ while he did so and then he blew up whatever was left of us.”

 

Thor stared at Steve straight in the eye, “And yet, you would deny me this right?”

 

Steve pressed his lips in a fine line. He understood what Thor was saying, but he couldn’t in good conscience let the god run after the titan in a suicide mission. Leaning forward in his seat, he said, “Thor I’m not saying that you can’t take revenge for them, I’m just saying that now is not the time –”

 

“Then when _is_ the time?” Thor roared, slamming his palms down on the table. The assembled group jumped back collectively.

 

“Thor...” Bruce murmured, reaching out a hand hesitantly.

 

“I had to watch as Thanos and his Order _slaughtered_ my people. They killed my men, my friends. They murdered women and _children_  , innocent people who had no quarrel with Thanos, who didn't fight him and _I couldn’t help them_. I had to watch them murder my last remaining friend and _joke_ about it. I had to watch Thanos slowly choked the life out of my brother,” Thor choked, his voice becoming ragged as his hands curled into fists, “I had to watch Thanos _snap_ my brother’s neck and _laugh_ , throwing him away as though he was trash.”

 

Thor turned and pinned them all with a heavy stare, “Twice now I have seen Loki die before me, and each time I couldn’t do anything, because there was no enemy for me to fight, no foe for me to smash.” The entire room was thick with tension.

 

Thor stared down the Captain, and Steve could see the grief and rage lurking behind the god’s electric blue eyes. “My brother _sacrificed_ himself to save me. He could have run the moment Thanos threatened us. He could have chosen to let Thanos kill me, but instead he drew Thanos’ attention to himself so that the titan would leave me alone. I will not dishonour his sacrifice by hiding like a  _coward_ ,” he spat, “From the man who killed him.”

 

“You’ll die.” Steve responded hollowly, the bitter tang of hypocrisy staining his mouth as he repeated the words Tony had said when he’d explained why he created Ultron.

 

“I have _nothing_ left to lose, if I die, at least I’ll die knowing that I  _tried_.” Thor snarled, then stalked out of the room, the skies outside darkening with his mood.

 

Steve felt his mouth run dry because he hadn’t forgotten Thor’s entrance into Wakanda. He’d been relieved and glad at the time that Thor wasn’t dead, but thinking back now, he realized how different Thor was, how much more powerful he was than the rest of them. The god had single-handedly decimated the horde of alien monsters and their ships, turning the tide against them.

 

He had also been the only one to wound Thanos.

 

“I’m with ‘im.” Rocket piped up, scowling at all of them. “That bastard killed my friend, I ain’t letting him go just cuz.”

 

They all watched silently as the raccoon picked up his gun – Bucky’s gun Steve realized with a jolt – and left.

 

“It’s suicide.” Natasha intoned, trying to get them to see reason. “If we stay here and rebuild, we have a chance at survival –”

 

“To what end?” Bruce interrupted again, shocking her into silence, “We rebuild, and then what? Half of earth is dead Natasha. We’re supposed to protect them from these kind of things and we  _failed_.” He looked at all of them, “ _We_  failed.” He repeated, the heavy truth slamming against Steve like a physical blow. “I’m with Thor.” Bruce said firmly, “Heimdall, Thor’s friend, saved my life when he could have saved the others. I’m not wasting this chance by hiding away.”

 

“I’m all for hunting the bastard down too.” Rhodey snarled, adding his two cents. “Pepper said that Tony was on the spaceship that touched down in London. I’m going to find him.”

 

“Jim, we don’t know if he’s still…” Steve trailed off, the man’s glare boring into him.

 

“I don’t know why the hell you’ve decided to give up now of all times Captain, but my best friend is out there somewhere, and I’m going to rip the universe apart if I have to, to find him.” The colonel sneered, “I expect _you_ of all people should understand that.”

 

Steve flinched.

 

Natasha frowned disapprovingly, “We can’t argue amongst ourselves. We need to have a plan, and we need to rebuild.”

 

“If I could join you, I would.” Shuri piped up, her eyes dark with anger, so unlike the innocent visage she had just a scant few hours ago. “That asshole killed my brother, and I would hunt Thanos down too. But Wakanda needs me here.”

 

“Say we go after him,” Steve relented, “How are we even supposed to find him? We don’t have the technology to go out into space, we don’t know if we can breathe in wherever we’re going and we don’t even know where Thanos is!”

 

“We can ask Thor and Rocket if they know how to track Thanos,” Bruce replied, crossing his arms over his chest, “And I can ask the Sanctum for help.”

 

Shuri laughed mirthlessly, “You’re in the world’s most technologically advanced country, getting to space is _not_ going to be a problem.”

 

Steve sighed, “So we’re doing this then?”

 

Rhodey leaned on the table, holding Steve’s gaze, “Are you telling me you don’t want revenge at all?”

 

Steve swallowed. He was angry, yes, because he thought he’d had more time with Bucky. But the part of him that had been beaten down by Thanos with a single blow to the head screamed at him. Because how could they stand against such a creature when they couldn’t even dent him when their numbers were twice of what they had now? But then he thought of Bucky, who had taken up arms the first moment he could in order to defend their planet despite wanting to lay down and rest. He thought of T’Challa, who had leapt headfirst into battle ahead of his soldiers to set an example, a king fighting for the lives of his people. He thought of Vision and Wanda, both who were so young and so brave, willing to sacrifice their lives and their love to protect the planet.

 

Then he thought of Tony, who had been the first responder, who had disappeared onto an alien ship despite knowing it was a one way trip.

 

Steve knew what his answer was.

 

“I guess we better suit up.”

* * *

 

Thanos opened a portal to a nearby planet, Joskone was its name if his memory served him. At his side was Tony Stark, the human clad in the standard leather the Black Order dressed in. The titan stepped out of the portal, smiling at the rays of light that was cast upon the landscape. They emerged from the portal on what seemed to be a land without any life, just the planet’s natural environment. Joskone orbited two suns, but they had reached the planet in time for the rays to have mellowed out, casting soft light instead of harsh burns. The planet had what seemed like trees in the distance, but seemed too uniformed to be natural. Tony surveyed his surroundings, wondering vaguely why he was here.

Voicing that question to Thanos, the titan cocker his head before replying, “You did not understand previously, I wish for you to understand now.”

 

Tony frowned, looking back at the silent field, broken only by the whistling of the wind. “There’s nothing here.” He said finally.

 

Thanos chuckled, “This is not where their civilization is. But it is peaceful no? This planet was overpopulated, it’s natural resources barely enough to sustain them. Now? They will have enough to survive and thrive.”

 

Tony tilted his head to the side, blinking slowly. To some extent, he understood, but “Wouldn’t that mean that they would just overpopulate again?” He raised an eyebrow, “You’d have to cull them in several generations’ time. Not exactly a sustainable solution.”

 

Thanos laughed, taken aback by the comment. The mortal surprised him. Not even Ebony Maw dared to question his motives and he was his most outspoken child. Humming, he replied, “Perhaps it would be prudent to first visit the inhabitants. Let us see if we can speak some sense into them.”

 

Thanos grabbed Tony’s shoulder, teleporting the two of them to a different location. The civilization of Joskone was somewhere in between rural and advanced. They had no obvious technology to speak off, but they evidently had enough intelligence to build lodging areas and farm for food. The village(?) was staggered on the side of a mountain, laid on smooth even areas cut into the side of the rock. Tony wondered vaguely how the aliens travelled up and down the entire mountain when he realized that there were two appendages protruding from their backs, each appendage long and spindly, tapering off into sharp claws that helped them dig into the side of the mountain with ease.

 

They stood on the edge of one of these ledges, watching as the aliens went about on their way. Thanos eyed the aliens, hiding their presence with a simple pulse from the reality stone. The aliens seemed to be working with each other, chattering in their language - a series of clicks and whistles - at each other. A shriek caught his attention, and Thanos turned to see two big aliens dragging a smaller one, the smaller one the source of the shrieking. They dragged the alien down to one of the empty ledges, pinning the smaller one down. The aliens gathered in a circle, and the smaller creature screamed and shrieked. A second shriek caught his attention and he turned, just in time to see another small alien swipe some slab of meat off from one of the other aliens and dash off. They watched as two of the bigger aliens dashed across the mountain and tore the smaller one to pieces. The same fate met the one that had been caught first, and Tony felt sick to the bones.

 

“Did they just - were those kid aliens?”

 

Before Thanos could formulate a reply, a loud roar sounded and a group of aliens scuttled out from the side of the mountain, crashing straight into the group of aliens assembled in a circle. With the two groups now in the same vicinity, it was obvious to see that there were differences. The original group were bigger, thicker and darker while the new arrivals were much thinner, and of a lighter color. The two groups clashed, snarling and snapping at each other, tearing each other to pieces. Thanos scowled as he watched, the frown marring his forehead deepening with each alien being torn apart.

 

The titan snarled and leapt off his ledge, slamming a fist into the ground as he revealed himself. The shockwave - accentuated with the aid of the power stone - struck the aliens, throwing them to the ground. As one, they turned and eyed Thanos, their six beady eyes staring at him. One of the dark aliens broke the pause and speared a lighter alien with one of the appendages on its back. Thanos narrowed his eyes and snapped his finger, the darker alien turning to dust.

 

The shift in the air was palpable.

 

The aliens focused on Thanos now, clearly recognizing the way one of their own had crumbled to dust.

 

One brave soul surged at him, but the titan merely punched the alien. Hard. It crashed onto the ground and Thanos slammed a boot on its chest, crushing it beneath him. The rest of the aliens paused, shuffling uncertainly, but it seemed that their rage overwhelmed their common sense. The group launched themselves at him, and Thanos growled, meeting them head on. He punched and tore their extra appendages out, identifying those as the greatest threat. Annoyed, he snarled and punched the ground, the power gem pulsing with power.

 

Throwing them all back, he snarled, using the reality stone to help him translate, “Attack me one more time and I will _not_ be merciful.”

 

He received a cacophony of cries, the loudest raging at him for being responsible for the deaths of their kin. Thanos sneered, “Forget it, it appears that my mercy is _wasted_ on you.”

 

Turning his back on them, he looked at Tony. “Kill them.”

 

Tony flicked cold, azure eyes to the horde of aliens who launched themselves forward. He threw himself off the ledge he was standing on, his armour wrapping around him instantly. He shot towards the horde, firing his repulsors into the crowd.

 

Thanos closed his eyes and clamped down on his rage, the sounds of shrieking aliens surrounding him. He had single-handedly solved their problem of overpopulation, having sacrificed so much for this power and yet these creatures _dared_ to be ungrateful. Thanos breathed in deeply, the whine of repulsors and alien bone cracking and snapping becoming music to his ears.

 

When all the noise had finally died down, Thanos turned back around, seeing Tony standing above one of the lighter-colored creatures, a blade formed from his armour at its neck. The creature trembled, prostrating itself before him. The titan curled his lips, relishing in the fear he could smell emanating from the alien bowed before him. He considered sparing this creature, but he couldn’t find anything other than irritation within him at the mess the aliens had made.

 

“End it.”

 

The blade swept downwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review on your way out!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments!! I really love reading them, and am super sorry for not being able to reply each one individually. >.< Anyway, I apologize for the long wait, I had to finish finals first, and then my grandma went for a knee surgery and I'm her main caretaker, so I've been busy the past few weeks. 
> 
> Nevertheless, here's a new chapter! It's got lesser Tony in it (I'm sorry, I'll make it up soon) and a boatload of angst and introspection because I decided to make myself depressed by going through the IW tag on Tumblr. 
> 
> Also, I have zero knowledge on engineering, or how Wakanda powers their tech so bear with me okay? :)
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy it and please leave a review on your way out! :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel :(

Despite his earlier statement, the path that lay before them wasn’t as easy as just ‘suiting up’. Before, all they had to do was put on their game face, fly the Quinjet to wherever the enemy was and take them out before the world ended. Now, not only were their numbers dwindled, but they had _lost_ , and their enemy was no longer even on earth. He was somewhere out there in the galaxy having fulfilled his goal and Steve honestly still had a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that there were aliens and other life forms out there. From what little conversation he had had with Rocket, the talking raccoon, there were apparently multiple civilizations out there, actual planets that contained life similar to earth, and not even like the ones he’d seen in the movies that Tony had shown him once upon a time. Steve shook his head, trying to focus. The only bright side of their predicament now that he could see was that Thanos probably wasn’t expecting any of them. Though that comforted little when he clearly had the power to disintegrate all of them with a single snap.

Steve honestly didn’t know whether to be glad or not that Wakanda was so advanced in technology. Their tech was on par with Tony’s and – he didn’t actually want to say it – but he thought that some of their technology might even  _outstrip_  the genius’s. On one hand it comforted him to know that the Wakandans could build on the technology they had at their disposal to allow them to travel to space, making their decision to venture out of their home world an expected reality and not an unattainable dream. On the other hand, being surrounded by such advanced technology reminded him of the genius and _that_ was a path he _really_ didn’t want to go down.

Steve sighed. It was hard, trying to corral what was left of them into some semblance of order. Despite what Thor wanted, he had finally managed to convince the god to stay and wait for them, citing their need for preparation and the benefits of having allies that could support him in a battle. It was a close call, not only because he thought that the raccoon was going to point out just _how_ useful they had been against Thanos, but also because Thor apparently could now teleport, and being alien, had physiology that could withstand the harshness of space. Humans on the other hand, could not. Steve didn’t know much about science, but he knew that humans never went out to space without some sort of protective suit. That’s why he had Thor bring Bruce over to the Sanctum – again, something that the god apparently knew about – to seek for help from the wizard that had fought with them when the Black Order first arrived.

(A part of Steve wanted to comment on the amount of secrets everyone seemed to be keeping from him, but he bit that back at the last second.)

After speaking with Thor and convincing the god that ‘yes, they were going to space and no, he wasn’t lying to keep Thor on earth’, Natasha had pulled him aside and told him with dark eyes that she was going to find the Barton family. She had said it in an undertone, and Steve’s heart clenched with guilt, realizing that he had completely forgotten about them. He nodded solemnly and told her to be careful, earning only a rueful smile before she disappeared completely.

Steve had initially thought that with T’Challa gone, Shuri would take over the throne, but the girl had instead holed herself up in the lab with Rocket, combining the raccoon’s knowledge of weapons with her own inventions in order to provide them with weapons and tech that could survive outer space and that could give them a fighting chance against Thanos. Sitting on the royal throne of Wakanda instead, was Ramonda, the Queen Mother, her grief evidenced only in her eyes even as she ruled fairly and justly over what remained of their country, preventing it from falling into the chaos that blanketed the rest of the world.

There were many dead that littered the field apart from the ashes of those who had fallen to the Gauntlet, and in the days after his declaration, he found himself offering his help to the Wakandans, helping them carry their dead for a proper funeral. Each time, he marvelled at how strong willed the Wakandans were. Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje who he accompanied, had shifted the bodies with only a stoic outlook, her expression severe and blank despite the tell-tale tremors in her fingers as she came across more of her soldiers. Steve regretted that they had brought the fight to Wakanda when the country was still slowly opening up to the rest of the world, and he hoped that these people received the honour their afterlife gave them.

With his super soldier strength, he had offered to help the Wakandans move the alien corpses as well, seeing as they were much heavier than the average human body. Heavy footfalls drew his attention from where he was lugging one such alien corpse, the monster’s multiple arms becoming a hassle.

“Need a hand with that?”

Steve turned to find Rhodey staring at him, the other man inclining his head towards the monster.

“Yeah sure why not?” Steve replied simply, moving to the side to allow the other man to grab onto the monster’s body.

The two of them heaved the creature to a pile that was building up. “This is gonna make an impressive bonfire.” Steve muttered, dropping the body on top of the ever-growing mountain of alien corpses.

He made to return where he had been to grab another alien but Rhodey’s voice stopped him short. “I’m not apologizing for what I said, back in the meeting.”

Steve pressed his lips together. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, Rhodey facing the mountain of corpses and himself facing the open field. “I’m not asking you to.” The ex-Avenger replied stoically.

Rhodey flexed his fingers, looking down at the monster corpses. “I haven’t forgotten what you did to him. And until he comes back, I won’t.”

“I thought he called.” Steve said, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them, “When the phone rang, I thought he called.”

Rhodey shifted but didn’t say anything so Steve took it as his cue to continue. “I was glad to hear Bruce. Honestly. But... But then I learnt that he had gone after an alien ship of all things...” Steve shuddered, closing his eyes as he remembered watching Ironman fly a nuke into a portal, knowing that it meant certain death. “I know I did something unforgivable. And I’m not asking for forgiveness. But I wanted to say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean –” he faltered slightly, “I didn’t mean for everything to get so out of hand, I swear. And I just –” Steve ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply, feeling like his age for the first time.

“When Bucky – when he turned to dust I just - I think it hit me that Tony might never be coming back.” Steve confessed, grief sitting heavily in his chest. “And I don’t – I thought we had time, and I don’t want the last thing we ever spoke of to be – to be _that_.”

Rhodey’s head snapped around, “Don’t say that.”

Steve just fixed his eyes on the ground. “But haven’t you thought about it? Tony went after an alien ship containing a creature who could manipulate objects with his _mind_.” He stressed, “Tony could have been – he could’ve –” Steve swallowed, the words stuck in his throat, “And the dust –”

“ _Don’t_  say that.” Rhodey growled, clenching his fists, “Tony _isn’t_ dead.”

“How could you –”

“He’s  _not_  dead.” The colonel snapped, glaring at Steve, “He’s _not_ going to die in some _corner_ of the galaxy with nobody by his side. He’s survived everything that life has thrown at him, and he’s prepared _six years_ for this.” Rhodey laughed, “Six years, he’s prepared for this, and _none_ of us believed him.” The man shook his head, grinning sharply, “He’s too stubborn to die. And I  _know_ ,” Rhodey said, turning to face Steve completely, “That he’s waiting for us on the other side of the galaxy. It wouldn’t be him if he wasn’t.”

Steve smiled wryly. He didn’t truly believe what Rhodey was saying, not when the naivety clouding his eyes had been brutally ripped apart. But a small part of him ached with so much hope, with the determination and the conviction that he could hear in Rhodey’s voice, and so he replied, “And I suppose he’ll be asking us why we took our own sweet time.”

* * *

Bruce stumbled out of the portal, thanking the stern Asian man for his help before backing away carefully as the portal snapped shut, memories of a severed arm rising to the forefront of his mind.

His second trip to the Sanctum had been a fruitful one, and more hopeful than the last one had been. He remembered smashing into the Sanctum, his heart racing with terror as memories of a giant purple alien beating the hulk into the ground so easily. His first thought – as it always was – had been to contact Tony. It ashamed him now, to realize how often he ran to Tony when he encountered a problem, seeking the genius’s help and then leaving him in the lurch. A bitter taste filled Bruce’s mouth as he realized that he had expected Tony to drop everything to help him, when he had left the man alone to deal with the fallout from Ultron. In retrospect, he realized that he shouldn’t have been shocked that the Avengers had split up, not when he’d called them a time bomb from the start. He hadn’t started looking into the events surrounding the break up in detail. Rhodey, when he had met the guy, had given him the run down of the events that had happened, had explained in short sentences why he had to walk around with braces on his legs.

The little he heard was enough to make him sick.

He had pushed all those thoughts aside in favor of working with the rogue avengers, but he wondered, vaguely, if he should have stayed to help Tony back then. If the team would still be together if Tony had someone in his corner.

Shaking his head, he ran a hand over his scalp. For the longest time, he had hated the hulk, hated the creature that seemed to only destroy and destroy and destroy. But after Sakaar, after Asgard, he realized how sentient the hulk was, how capable the green giant was of emotions and thought. Another point, again, which he realized Tony had seen that none of them – even himself – had noticed. Bruce thought about the Asgardians, and he wondered if Valkyrie and Korg managed to get away, or if they too had fallen prey to Thanos. He – or rather, the hulk – remembered Loki giving orders for evacuation the moment the gigantic ship had loomed over them. Had forced the women and children to flee in the evacuation pods, weaving some spell to conceal them. That was the first time that Loki had stared straight into the hulk’s eyes without fear and asked him to aid them in protecting the civilians.

Bruce recalled Thor commanding both Valkyrie and Korg to lead the evacuation, promising to catch up with them when they were done. He wondered now, if they were even still alive. He hoped, sincerely hoped that they had made it out. He knew, from the look on Thor’s face, that Loki hadn’t made it. He didn’t think it was possible, but he felt sorry for the other god. Despite his own misgivings about Loki, he knew, from the hulk’s memories, that Loki had turned up to save Asgard at the end, had helped Thor organize the Asgardians on the stolen Sakaarian ship. The fact that Thor had arrived on earth with no Loki in sight…

Bruce bit his lip, regret weighing heavily in his chest. It seemed as though that was all he could do now, lingering in the past and regretting the actions he had taken.

He looked around, trying to suppress the heavy feeling, giving a shy nod to one of the Wakandan guards who responded in kind, shifting away from the door to allow Bruce entry into Shuri’s lab. He hastily smoothened down the rumples in his shirt, fingers twitching with nervous energy.

A quick scan of the lab told him that Rocket was missing. Shuri on the other hand, was buzzing around her lab, flitting from one holographic plan to another in a frenzied way that was so familiar that Bruce had to stop to swallow the lump that suddenly clogged his throat. He remembered the days that Tony used to do so, and he recalled how – how  _useless_  he had been in the face of danger, how he had been unable to transform, could only cower and hide away, watching with bated breath as his friend stepped up to deal with an enemy three times his size. Bruce thought he’d seen everything that Tony was capable of when he helped design the Hulkbuster but seeing the Ironman armour slowly crawl up Tony’s skin and encase him smoothly, Bruce could do little but marvel at his friend’s unlimited genius.

Seeing Shuri buzzing around the lab in a manner which he felt should have been contentedly busy, he felt ashamed and guilty that he couldn’t offer more. The hulk was one of the most powerful beings on Earth and yet he had refused to come out when they truly needed him. Bruce wondered if anyone here blamed him for not being able to hold his own in battle, and then he wondered if he could have prevented Tony from ever leaving earth if he had transformed back then. Steve had called Tony earth’s greatest defender, and Bruce wondered if things would have gone differently had he been able to prevent Tony from leaving.

“Did you find who you were looking for?”

Bruce snapped to attention, his mind focusing on the girl who was busy tweaking some holographic designs of what seemed to be a Wakandan aircraft, not lifting her gaze from the schematic plans despite her question.

Bruce licked his lips, rubbing his fingers nervously, “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I did. Wong – that’s the guy’s name – survived and he uh – he agreed to help us. Said he’ll research for a spell to allow us to breathe in space. Or at least have access to oxygen. Not in the vacuum mind, I think that’s too far-fetched even for him.”

Shuri nodded absently, her hands coming up to enlarge the holographic image, fingers plucking out parts that she didn’t need and replacing them with others.

“Do you uh – do you need help?” he ventured hesitantly.

The princess turned around and looked at him questioningly.

Bruce nodded to the holograph in her hand, “With that.”

Shuri turned back to the schematic of the aircraft and nodded mutely, her previous joviality all but gone. “We have aircrafts, much like your Quinjets, but better of course. The problem is getting them to space.”

“What do you mean?” Bruce frowned, coming over to the other side of the table.

Shuri threw her hands outward, enlarging the schematic. “Look,” she pointed out, plucking the diagram of the engine and holding it in her palm, “I’ve run multiple simulations, and I’ve replaced the engine of the craft multiple times to increase its power, but it _always_ fails to breach the stratosphere. The engines burn out before it can push the craft out.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow, “You changed the engines? What kind of energy are you using?”

Shuri frowned, “Wakanda is rich in vibranium because of a meteorite that crashed into the country centuries ago. We harvested the metal and use the energy obtained from the crystals within the meteorite to power our tech, including the craft. I’ve even tried modifying the thrusters used by rockets but those consume too much fuel and throws the balance of the craft completely off.”

Bruce reached out and turned the hologram towards him, scanning the schematic of the craft studiously. “What about arc reactor technology?”

Shuri startled, “What?”

Bruce bit his lip hesitantly, “Tony caught up to an alien space ship that was already on its way out of earth’s atmosphere.” He said, “The Ironman suit is powered by arc reactor technology, it’s powerful enough.”

Shuri frowned, “That depends on the energy output. The arc reactor in the Ironman suit could be primed for boosting the suit alone. Plus, the suit itself isn’t as heavy as an entire aircraft.”

“No you’re right,” Bruce murmured, snapping his fingers, “But then we just need to have a reactor that has enough energy proportional to what is required to lift the craft. Ultron,” he faltered slightly but forced himself to continue, “Ultron used arc reactor technology as well. He embedded several reactors, huge ones made out of vibranium into Sokovia’s soil. If those reactors can generate enough power to lift an entire city I think we can create one that can lift a jet.”

“I don’t –” Shuri broke off, swallowing heavily, “I’ve always respected Tony Stark and his creation of the arc reactor. It’s amazing and frankly far beyond what I’ve ever seen in my life and I _live and breathe_ new inventions. I can’t just – I can’t just steal it. Not when he’s –” she cut herself off.

Bruce pressed his lips together, “I know, which is why we’re not gonna steal it. We’re gonna use the arc reactors from the Hulkbuster.”

He tried to give her a reassuring smile, “If it makes you feel better, you can hide behind me when Tony finds out.”

He was rewarded with a tiny twitch of her lips. She hesitated for a second, then lifted her wrist, tapping her bracelet as she spoke rapidly into it. Bruce hoped, and prayed fervently that Tony _wasn’t_ dead. Bruce would rather deal with an angry Tony shouting at him for picking apart his tech and stealing it. He had already abandoned the genius once, he wasn’t going to stop until he found his friend or – and his mind stuttered here – or he found undeniable proof that Tony Stark was dead.

* * *

Tony sat in an alcove, a tiny crevice in the ship, somewhere above the throne Thanos normally sat on. He leaned back against the cool alien material, eyeing the commotion below disinterestedly. As a genius, he knew exactly how powerful Thanos was, and he had quickly made himself scarce the moment they returned to the ship. It wasn’t a moment too soon because Thanos had proceeded to go on a rampage in the throne room, ripping apart his favourite chair and tearing up the entire room. As one of Thanos’ (only remaining) ally, he was tasked with overseeing the titan’s protection – not that the Titan needed it seeing as he literally held the power to change the goddamn universe in his hands – but orders were orders and so Tony found a compromise. His armour allowed him to find this small alcove – small for beings twice his size, but just comfortable enough for him – situated somewhere above the throne, a place where he could recline and keep an eye over Thanos but still stay out of reach of the titan’s rampage.

A sudden memory of him sitting in a similar fashion within the ring of a donut rose up in his mind. Frowning, Tony shook his head, pushing the image from his mind. There had been several few instances in the past couple of days, innocuous images that popped up now and then, overlapping reality with its similarity. Tony didn’t want to bother Thanos (he remembered white hot _painpainpain_ ) and figured he could handle it on his own. He didn’t tell Thanos about the empty feeling in his chest, as though something had been carved out.

A loud crash drew his attention, and he leaned over slightly to see what his master was doing. Thanos had apparently uprooted the bottom of the throne and thrown the metal across the room where it had shattered against the ship’s wall, tiny cracks emerging from the point of impact. Tony grimaced, realizing that if he continued his tantrum any longer, the Titan would tear the entire ship apart. Sighing inaudibly, Tony rolled over the edge of the alcove he had situated himself in, his armour smoothly sliding over his skin, catching him in mid-air. He floated within arm’s length of Thanos, his uncovered face expressing his scepticism.

“They’re a race of mindless creature,” he said, rolling his eyes, “you don’t need to get so worked up over them.”

The purple being didn’t reply at first, breathing heavily as though he had gone several thousand rounds against the hulk.

“You don’t understand.” Thanos growled, slamming a fist against the ship wall.

Tony eyed the wall dubiously, fervently hoping that the Titan wouldn’t put a hole in his own ship. He shook off the echo of ‘Did you ever watch that old movie Aliens?’ in his head and replied quickly lest the titan figure out something was wrong, “Don’t understand what?”

“It was a _gift_!” Thanos roared, spinning around to face Tony, who merely raised an eyebrow in reply, seemingly unfazed by the titan’s ire. “I gave them a gift, a mercy for their dying planet, and they spat it back at me. Turned on me as though I had not given them what they so desperately needed: _resources_.”

The genius lifted a shoulder, “And? It’s just one planet of aliens right? Who’s to say that the others out there don’t feel thankful? Besides, you didn’t really explain yourself to them, maybe they just need some explanation.”

Thanos sneered, clenching his fists, “I have deigned to take upon the sacrifices needed to deliver this mercy to them, I should _not_ need to explain myself to the likes of _them._ ”

Tony crossed his arms.

The Titan sighed, “But perhaps I was too hasty.” He looked away, uncurling his fingers, “I am too easily incensed by their lack of understanding because I have lost too much in order to grant this gift to the universe.” The Titan turned to Tony, “Take us to the nearest inhabited planet, I want to see for myself.”

“Sure,” Tony sighed, shaking his head slightly, as the Titan walked away, melting into the darkness, “leave it to the human to figure out how to operate an alien ship.” He groused, running a hand through his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review on your way out! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review on your way out!


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